An upgrade by Hawker Beechcraft means the latest manifestation of the ageless twin-turbine Beechcraft King Air 90 series aircraft – the new King Air C90GTi – has become the lowest priced, twin-turbine aircraft with mid-size jet avionics.
Replacing the current King Air C90GT, the upgraded C90GTi uses the fully integrated Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics system that is also at the heart of Beechcraft and Hawker aircraft from the King Air B200 to the Hawker 900XP.
Certification and deliveries of the King Air C90GTi are on track for the fourth quarter of 2007.
The Pro Line 21 system includes large-format liquid crystal displays in a three-display arrangement, as well as digital radio and audio systems. It features a multi-sensor flight management system, using several aircraft position inputs, solid-state weather radar and Collins-patented Chart Link automated chart selection system to reduce pilot workload.
Meanwhile, CSS – an L-3 Communications & Thales Company – announced at the show today that Hawker Beechcraft has selected ACSS’s advanced terrain awareness warning system (TAWS) solution with the installation of TAWS+ on the King Air C90GTi.
“Hawker Beechcraft has set the standard for general and business aviation with unsurpassed performance, quality, value and technological innovation,” says ACSS president Kris Ganase. “With our TAWS products on board, Hawker Beechcraft customers will experience the enhanced safety of the most advanced TAWS product available.”
ACSS’s TAWS+ and TAWS+performance are standalone, Class A TAWS for civil turboprops, jets and military aircraft with over 2,000 units sold or on order as a standalone product or as part of ACSS’s T2CAS product, an integrated TCAS and TAWS in a single line-replaceable unit. ACSS’s TAWS+performance is the industry’s only aircraft performance-based TAWS available in the marketplace. The advanced safety capabilities can be applied to any business, regional, air transport or military aircraft to avoid controlled flight into terrain, which gives operators more time to clear terrain and traffic with an increased margin to manoeuvre and reduce nuisance alerts. The ground collision avoidance module (GCAM) enables Modes 1-5 and provides unique predictive warnings and cockpit displays.
Among the patented features is a terrain advisory line that indicates where the terrain is should the aircraft continue on its flightpath. The length and duration of the alert line mirrors the cautionary terrain segment within 30° either side of the aircraft flightpath, out to 4min in front of the aircraft. When the GCAM detects that the aircraft does not have sufficient climb capability to clear the terrain by a standard vertical recovery manoeuvre, it generates a unique identifiable “Avoid Terrain” aural-visual alert.
Source: Flight Daily News